Along with Samantha Ponder’s ESPN promotion came a pay raise that she bargained for.

The new face of “Sunday NFL Countdown” took a leap in her discussions with ESPN on the details surrounding the position, she explained to Variety in a Q&A published Tuesday. Ponder directed her agent to ask for more money, a move she said is considered a “risk” among women in the sports media business.

“So many women in particular are just uncomfortable talking about this issue and taking some risks, which I did this time around, and saying, ‘No, I’m not going to do it for that,'” Ponder said. “But I found it to be really empowering.”

Ponder, who has worked her way up the ESPN ranks as a college football reporter since 2011, revealed it felt “awkward” for her to seek extra compensation in a job she’s always been satisfied with having, even if it meant earning a small salary.

“I got some big breaks early on, and the attitude around it was always ‘You’re just lucky to be here,'” she said. “No one came out and said that, but that was the clear message. And I felt that way. So if they said, ‘Hey, so how about minimum wage?’ I’d have been like, ‘All right, whatever. Just happy to be here.’ I feel like a lot of times, that’s where this whole issue gets started.”

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The 32-year-old is fully aware of the pressure that comes with replacing Chris Berman in the “Countdown” booth. Berman, who has been with ESPN since its inception, had hosted the show for 30 years before the Worldwide Leader decided to reduce his role with the network.

But for Ponder, the wife of Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, moving beyond the sideline-reporter role — where she acknowledged so many women in sports find themselves — and leading a sports talk-show always was her goal.

“The other part was I just wanted to feel like I was doing something more substantive. I wanted to feel like I was a part of a conversation instead of just relaying somebody else’s conversation,” Ponder told the magazine. “Especially with all of the social issues that are connected to sports, more than ever now there are a lot of conversations that I felt like I wanted to be a part of. I wanted to have more of a voice. This job allows me to do that.”

Ponder told The Post in May that Berman, 62, has gone “above and beyond” in lending her advice and making her feel comfortable ahead of her September debut on “Countdown.” Berman’s support has only made her realize how socially acceptable it’s become for women to lead sports coverage.

“There are always going to be some people who are uncomfortable getting any football information from a woman. And honestly, I know that’s supposed to bother me, but it doesn’t, really,” Ponder said.

“I think this next generation is totally different. The coolest thing for me as a woman in this industry is that it never felt weird for me because there were so many that went before me.”